explaining_errors_in_star_trekfandomcom-20200215-history
Tribunal
' |image= |series= |production=40512-445 |producer(s)= |story= |script= Bill Dial |director= Avery Brooks |imdbref=tt0708656 |guests=Rosalind Chao as Keiko O'Brien, Richard Poe as Gul Evek, Caroline Lagerfelt as Makbar, John Beck as Boone, Julian Christopher as Cardassian Voice and Fritz Weaver as Kovat |previous_production=The Collaborator |next_production=The Jem’Hadar |episode=DS9 S02E25 |airdate= 5 June 1994 |previous_release=(DS9) The Collaborator (Overall) All Good Things... |next_release=The Jem’Hadar |story_date(s)=47944.2 (2370) |previous_story=The Collaborator |next_story=The Jem’Hadar }} Summary Shortly after O'Brien and Keiko depart DS9 on a much-deserved vacation, a Cardassian patrol ship approaches. Gul Evek demands to search the runabout and - thinking he has nothing to hide - O'Brien agrees. Evek beams on board and promptly arrests O'Brien, hauling him off the runabout as Keiko screams. On Cardassia, OBrien is quickly processed and confined to a cell, all without knowing the charges against him. Under Cardassian jurisprudence, the accused is informed of his or her crime only at the trial - a trial whose verdict and associated punishment have already been determined. As with all Cardassian trials, O'Brien's court-appointed counsel - Conservator Kovat - admits that the verdict will be "guilty." Meanwhile, Sisko and crew work first to discover the charges and then prove O'Brien's innocence. They find that someone has stolen twenty-four photon warheads from a weapons locker opened with a forged voice-print from O'Brien. They also uncover a man named Boone on the station. Though he looks like an old friend of O'Brien's, a DNA test reveals that he is a Cardassian spy. Evidently the Cardassians engineered the theft and subsequent arrest of O'Brien to substantiate a claim that the Federation is still supporting the Maquis. With their plan exposed, the Cardassians release O'Brien. Errors and Explanations Plot Oversights # When introducing himself to O'Brien, Gul Evek merely says, "My name is Evek." Its a little thing, but Cardassians seem to be very proud of their rank. I would have expected him to say, 'My name is Gul Evek." He may be trying to unnerve the O’Briens. # Just before beaming away with O'Brien, Gul Evek tells Keiko that he will be taken to Central Prison on Cardassia Prime. Yet later - while trying to explain to Keiko why he isn't charging to the rescue - Sisko says they don't even know where O'Brien is being held on Cardassia Prime. Did Keiko forget what Evek told her? She is still in shock from seeing her husband being arrested, and – most likely – wasn’t paying much attention to what was being said. (Assuming Evek was telling the truth about where O’Brien was going to be held). # During processing, O'Brien claims that his rank is "chief of operations, Starfleet." I realize that O Brien is probably frightened out of his wits, but Chief of Operations" is not a rank, it's a title. O’Brien's rank - according to Hippocratic Oath - is chief petty officer. (At least it is on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. For most of his tenure on board the Enterprise he was a lieutenant.) His Enterprise rank may have been an unofficial field commission. # Also, during processing, a Cardassian reaches into O'Brien's mouth and extracts a molar. As the tooth is placed in a receptacle, you can see that it is perfectly intact. Gary Holmes of Morrow, Georgia - a D.M.D., no less - assures me that tooth would have broken off at the root. The Cardassians may have developed a way to overcome that problem. # Does Starfleet take stupid pills every so often to even the odds with their enemies? We have a long—and cherished—history in Star Trek of people faking voiceprints. And yet – apparently - DS9 still allows access to vital areas of the station using voiceprint alone! What happened to the access codes to ensure that the guy talking is really who he says he is? What happened to retinal scans? What happened to handprint identification? What happened to DNA tracing? What happened to combadge cross-referencing? (At ease, Phil...at ease.) They may not be compatible with the Cardassian computer system on the station. # Evidently court proceedings on Cardassia are broadcast live to the entire planet. Now, there's a daring idea. Hasn't an activist ever used this system to disseminate his views before he's sentenced? They would probably be ordered to stop talking! # Just as Chief Archon Makbar - O'Brien's judge - is about to sentence him to death at the end of this episode. Sisko waltzes into the courtroom on Cardassia Prime with Boone. Sisko says nothing, but Makbar immediately comprehends the precariousness of the situation and proclaims mercy for O'Brien. I want to know who helped Sisko. I find it inconceivable that Sisko could have just hopped in a runabout, flown all the way through hostile Cardassian territory, transported down to Cardassia Prime, and strolled into this courtroom without somebody running interference for him. (My guess: Gul Dukat lent a hand.) Sisko and Odo probably revealed the truth, and how they discovered it, to the Central Command en route. Equipment Oddities # Makbar, the judge during O'Brien's trial, certainly has her monitor oddly situated. It rests below her knees. Maybe she operates it with her feet? Perhaps placing it higher up would block the judge’s view of the accused. # In the scene in the weapons locker, we see opened boxes that should contain photon warheads. Instead, they are loaded with scrap metal. When Sisko comes in, he looks at an opened box and asks if they are all like this. Kira replies in the affirmative. Supposedly some transporter guru beamed the scrap metal into the boxes at the same time he or she beamed the warheads out. Interestingly enough, when Gul Evek presents the warheads found on the runabout during O'Brien's trial, we don't see these warheads. We see only their boxes! Where did the Cardassians get boxes for these warheads? Does Starfleet maintain a free box replacement service for their weapons customers? ("Starfleet Customer Service: How may I help you? You say you've got twenty-four photon torpedo warheads and you can't find your storage boxes? No problem! I'll get those right out to you by warp courier this afternoon. Have a nice day!") The ones at the trial could have been fabricated by the Cardassians as part of the plot. Continuity And Production Problems # Most of the shots of O’Brien after the Cardassians cut off his clothes give us the impression that he is naked. This would correspond with similar treatment given to Picard in Chain of Command Part 2. However, as the Cardassians extract one of O'Brien's molars, a camera pan reveals that he is wearing the standard gray Starfleet boxers (first seen in Paradise). By the time Chief Archon Makbar arrives to greet him, the boxers have been removed. (Its possible the Cardassians initially let O'Brien retain his boxers, but I can't imagine why.) They probably had to wait, due to O’Brien pressing his butt into the chair during the tooth removal. # O'Brien's prisoner outfit consists of a shirt and pants wrapped by beltlike objects. These objects are made from some sort of strip mesh that wraps around O'Brien's chest, down around his waist, and between his legs. I usually don't comment on costuming, but in this case I gotta say that O'Brien looks like a reject from a Michael Jackson video. I kept waiting for him to break into a moonwalk or something! This could be intended to make the defendant feel ill at ease. Nit Central # Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Sunday, August 27, 2000 - 10:24 pm: It's interesting that Keiko & Miles haven't had a vacation in 5 years for two reasons: 1. they were married just 4 years earlier; 2. doesn't Starfleet believe in healthy, happy crews? Are we supposed to believe that Starfleet can work its people like slaves 7 days a week for 5 years at a time and only give them a couple of days off to relax? Doesn't Starfleet even believe in giving people a few days off for a honeymoon? Anonymous on Wednesday, December 06, 2000 - 11:10 am: I think you are confusing "leave time" and the notion of an actual planned vacation/holiday. While I'm sure that Keiko and Miles had leave time and days off, people with little children often find it hard to get away by themselves on a planned vacation even when they have leave. It's not hard for me to believe that they went a number of years without a romantic getaway. # Why didn't anyone spot a Cardassian ship flying around in Bajoran or Federation space? Shouldn't Starfleet and/or the Bajorans think about having ships and outposts monitoring the border with former enemies? There is – officially – a peace treaty between the Federation and Cardassia, which might prohibit that. # Miles says he doesn't know anyone in the Maquis, but what about Ro Laren? They served on the Enterprise for a year, or 2, and he definitely knew Ro, they were both on the bridge arguing in the NextGen episode Disaster. BARA on Monday, November 03, 2003 - 3:49 am: Maybe he doesn't know about Ro joining the Maquis? Her defection is fairly recent (it was in the episode just before All Good Things, wasn't it?). Besides, it's not like she sent out one of those "I changed jobs" cards to everyone she ever served with. Category:Episodes Category:Deep Space Nine